Ryan Murray figures he had been hit that hard at least a hundred times, just like any hockey player who has worn skates since he was 4 years old.

This time — playing in a Western Hockey League game in Victoria, British Columbia, on Nov. 16 — was different.

Blasted upright and sent backward at center ice, Murray instinctually extended his left arm to break his fall, putting the load of his weight on the shoulder that had been bothering him with stiffness and pain for more than two weeks.

The shoulder caved and dislocated as he tumbled to the ice, leaving Murray to writhe in pain until he could be taken to a hospital and anesthetized so his arm could be popped back into its socket.

“I was screaming,” Murray said. “I’ve been injured like everybody else, but I had no idea something could hurt that bad.”

It was the painful beginning to an arduous eight-month journey that leads him to a triumphant moment today.

Murray, the Blue Jackets’ No. 2 overall draft pick in 2012, was cleared for contact last week and will take part in the Blue Jackets’ development camp. It will be the 19-year-old defenseman’s first organized on-ice activity since the injury.

“In the back of your mind, you’re wondering about that first hit, how it’s going to feel. The shoulder is good. It feels strong. I’ve put in a lot of work to get to this point, so maybe there’s a little apprehension; but I’ll get through that.”

“He ripped the (stuff) out of his labrum,” his agent, Rick Valette, said. “It’s a circular muscle between the arm and the shoulder, and he tore about 270 degrees of the labrum. That’s a bad one.”

Murray was on pain pills with his arm in a sling for a week waiting for surgery when he began to fear something else might be wrong.

“It was numb,” Murray said. “I could lift it to a certain point, but then it felt like I had no muscle, like my arm wasn’t even attached.”

Tests revealed nerve damage to his shoulder. For an 18-year-old with a bright NHL career ahead of him, it was shocking.

“It was really scary to hear that, and to not know for sure where it was going,” said Murray, who put off surgery until mid-January in the hope that the nerve would regenerate. They waited six weeks.

“It sure felt longer than six weeks,” Murray said.

Three days before Christmas, Murray had more tests that showed the nerve had regenerated to its preinjury state. Surgery was set for three weeks later at Cleveland Clinic.

“I remember that day well,” Valette said. “When we got the news that he could go ahead with surgery, that there was no nerve damage, and that he was going to be fully recovered, it was a huge relief for all of us.”

Murray likely would have played in the NHL last season if not for the owner’s lockout. Instead, he was sent back to his junior club in Everett, Wash., to remain active.

“I was down there playing and waiting for it all to get sorted out,” Murray said. “Then I get hurt, and (the lockout) gets settled and the (NHL) season starts without me. That was awful.”

Now he has a legitimate shot to make the Blue Jackets for the 2013-14 season, although it’s suddenly not an easy lineup for a young defenseman to crack. Five players have one-way contracts, and Dalton Prout and Tim Erixon are ahead of him on the depth chart.

But Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said the early reports on Murray have been good.

“This is a young man with a strong body, obviously the top prospect for us,” Kekalainen said. “Everybody is excited to see him back and healthy on the ice. He’s been working out hard. The reports from (strength and conditioning coach Kevin Collins) are very encouraging, very impressive.”

Today is the day he steps out of the weight room and onto the ice, when his career gets back on track.

“This is a really big moment for Ryan,” Valette said. “I’m really happy for him. He’s 100 percent a hockey player. This is what he loves to do, and he’s such a good player.”

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